2.99.9 etcetera etcetera and So On and So Forth

Well, it finally had to happen, one way or another. Regular gas has still been steadily dropping in Allendale -- $2.97.9/gal... $2.96.9/gal... This morning it was $2.94.9/gal. With the 15¢/gal differential between grades, that put the 89 octane midgrade gasoline at $3.09.9/gal. But... I had a 10¢/gal discount coupon from Family Fare, so ta-da!:

$2.99.9/gallon for midgrade gasoline for me.

The last time gas was this cheap in West Michigan was October 2012... oh wait, that was the last election cycle. See previous comments posted about the theory of oil companies cutting gas prices so as to diffuse voter interest in voting for non big company friendly candidates.

Interestingly, the gas prices in Kalamazoo that I've been seeing have been going back up. I believe the Shell on West Main was $3.06.9/gal this morning or 12¢ more per gallon. Go figure.

In other commuting news, they've been snarling up traffic on West Main westbound at 5pm for a couple of days. They are adding traffic lights for the entrance to US-131 northbound at Exit 38. This is probably a good thing. Can't tell you how many times someone coming over the bridge decides that they get to cut across traffic as I, with right of way, am turning right onto the same ramp. Stringing the lights was one thing. But they cut a hole in the pavement to turn part of the center turn late into a protected curb and cutout for the opposing traffic.

Like I said, this is altogether a good thing.

On the work front, I noted that as I was getting ready to clear out of the big lecture hall -- 1104 Rood -- after my 10am PHYS-1070 class, that there was a woman working with a new clock for the back of the lecture hall. The old one died around the beginning of the semester, then disappeared, leaving us clockless.

I commented to the woman that students have been known to reset the clock in the back to try to get out of class early -- or get extra time for exams. Oh really? She left to get a security cover for the clock. Also, the new one must have a receiver for time radio because it will adjust itself as we go in/out of DST2007. (The actual clock has a switch on the back for OLD and NEW Daylight Saving Time settings -- either because it was a pre-2007 design or in case Congress finally repeals DST2007 and goes back to regular DST.)

Just under a month until the 2014 mid-term elections. They are running the same couple of commercials for and against the same Michigan governor and senator candidates -- and we're all sick of them. I don't know where they get these people in these ads, but the woman who claims to be a teacher and saying the the governor really didn't cut a billion dollars from schools so he's really a good guy we should be supporting -- looks way too much like whatshername the evil teacher in Glee and has that condescending sneer unfortunately associated with some New Age Republicans, such that we just can't take that commercial seriously. And in fact have to mute it when it comes on. And I don't think it's just that I don't like the politics, the woman just seems a poor choice to be a spokesperson. Sigh -- I guess we're all guilty of cherry picking and wanting Beautiful or at least Really Nice People in our advertising. Guess you'll never see Dr. Phil in a political ad. (evil-grin)

Still, not as annoying as the latest Toaster Strudel commercial which incessantly plays three times on every Food Channel show -- as if Pop-Tart like products are consumed by gastronomes -- with that awful stereotypical parody of a blond German boy in lederhosen. Sometimes we both race for the Mute button before his cheery "Toaster Strudel!", with the net result that one of us sets and the other negates the Mute function. Dammit. (grin)